1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to fishing lures and more specifically to a lure with the flexibility to make different types and lengths of lures using separable parts and various attachments.
2. Description of the Related Art
A preliminary patentability search located the following pertinent prior art references in Class 43, Subclass 42.09:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 1,477,864 Bolton 12/18/1923 1,867,458 Keuper 07/12/1932 2,573,399 Cannon 10/30/1951 2,883,785 Croft 04/28/1959 3,009,279 Jacobson 11/21/1961 3,172,227 Mackey 03/09/1965 3,359,674 Strumor 12/26/1967 4,619,067 West 10/28/1986 5,070,639 Pippert 12/10/1991 5,182,875 Righetti 02/02/1993 5,331,762 Banks 07/26/1994 ______________________________________
Of all the references cited above, only five previous inventions are somewhat similar to the present invention. As it will become apparent in the sections to follow, the present invention has more diversity and interchangeability than the other cited inventions.
For example, the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,762 to Banks relates to a fishing lure with interchangeable heads. This fishing lure does not have a single head with provision for securing various attachments. Thus, this arrangement is not convenient for fishermen to carry because many combination lures require many different heads. The body of the Banks' invention cannot be used by itself as a fishing lure due to its extending helical ramp and also cannot have any extension, thus further limiting any diversified use of the body. Additionally, there is no separable tail section for the Banks' invention to produce a fishing lure, such as an injured minnow. Moreover, the lure body of Banks does not have any provision for inserting either a rattler to produce a fish-attracting sound or some kind of weight to keep the lure at a certain water depth to imitate a suspended bait fish. Furthermore, the single split ring of Banks is not so easy to use to interchange hooks.
In the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,867,458 issued to Keuper, there is disclosed a fishing lure with detachable body sections that have tapered dovetail-shaped tongues and grooves to alter only the length of the lure. In Keuper's invention, there is no provision either for securing different attachments to make many combinations of lures or for using each part of the body as an individual lure, such as either a jig, a surface popper, or the like.
In the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,647 issued to Strumor, there is disclosed a fishing lure with adjustable sections. This lure provides for inserting weights into cavities in the body sections, but these cavities are not suitable for inserting rattlers to produce rattling sounds. Although the length of Strumor's invention is adjustable, it does not have any provision for securing various attachments to make many combinations of lures. Each adjustable body piece of Strumor's invention cannot be used as individual lure because of its extended studs, whereas the head, the main body, and the tail section of the present invention can be used as individual lures. Additionally, Strumor's lure does not provide any means for interchanging different kinds of hooks.
In the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,279 issued to Jacobson, there is disclosed a fishing lure with interchangeable mounting means for hooks. The mounting mechanism in Jacobson's lure is very complicated whereas, in the present invention, interchangeability can be accomplished by securing different kinds of hooks to different parts of the lure using simply the combination of a threaded eye screw and a split ring.
In the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,573,399 issued to Cannon, there is disclosed a fishing lure with separable head and body portions and a hook-mounting strip. However, the hook-mounting strip does not provide any interchangeability for using different kinds of hooks. Also, the two separable head and body parts are configured for inserting some kind of weight, but do not have any provision for securing various attachments to make many combinations of lures. Furthermore, the two separable head and body parts of Cannon cannot be used as individual lures due to the axially extending screw-threaded portion in the head.